Good morning from Hermit Haven-4/29/24

Well, so, since we had such an easy winter, most everybody did okay. I generally figure that I will lose 50% of everything I put in the ground, but this year I only lost about 1/3 of what I planted, so yay. 

One of the Mountain Ash, Both Forsythias that spent too much time in a bucket of water, and one Catalpa. I am leaving them in the ground, however, because they just might send out suckers as they had pretty good root systems. I have a spirit-story concerning a Plum tree in Vermont, but I think I already told that one, so suffice it to say that since most of a trees essence is actually underground, I refuse to give up on any of them. lol

In any case, this is fast becoming a place with much medicine! All of the fruit trees and bushes made it and there are many more arriving in Vt, to make the sojourn. What fun to see so many happy-smileys!

The ligonberrys:

The Bridal Wreath (Spirea).

A whole bunch of bulbs and lillies....

And last but not least, several very cute Maypops.

That's all for now, folks. Gotta go up top to get my hiking/working pants, and seize this glorious day! So many plants, so little time, don't ya' know?

Welcome Home....From Hermit Haven.....Ahhhhh.....

 All kidding aside, that's what the sign says when you enter the state of Maine. Nothing could be more apropos.

I am not sure if I ever told the creation story involving our purchase of this lot. It's a good one. I was just getting off the last drugs the Medical Profession had me on and I, personally, was deadset on getting out of Vermont before the hammering of the last nail in my coffin could commence. So, after we'd looked at several properties which really didn't fill the bill, our Realtor, Debbie Joseph, asked us if we wanted to look at a parcel in Wilton that had just come on the Market, and we, of course, said yes, since it was the last one we had, to look at. We walked up the very steep (but also very well built driveway), and I, of course, being the stubborn old fool that I am, felt mostly charmed and enamored (despite being in much pain). Rich, on the other hand, was much less so. 

So, we slept on it and decided to trek back the next day, after a rain shower. Just as we arrived, there was a Flock of Turkeys standing at the top of the driveway, and they were backed by a triple Rainbow, and my first response was: "Well, that's certainly an undeniable nod from the ancestors". lol

So, anyhow, Rich was pleased by the very close services, (Paved Road, Hospital right down the road, etc), on account of we ain't getting any younger, and I was like: "Sure, Sure, it's all gravy, from here on out", cause that's just how my brain works. Anyhow, after much heckling and hawing, we settled on a price and made the deal. That was in 2018, and we have been working at a slow but steady pace with Home Improvements since then. I am most happy to report that our Five Year plan was only delayed by about a year because of the 2020 pandemic. Yay. :)

The first couple of years year were ones of discovery, We walked around the property several times and luckily enough, we found a spring (as it happens, this hillside is loaded with water), so we had a digger guy (Jack Mills) come out and dig us a well up top so we'd have gravity feed. That was in 2019, I believe. The Third year, we bought and built a shed kit, also up top, to someday be a bathroom, with solar hot water (black pipe on roof). We left a hole underneath for several bales of Peat Moss to live. I did a peat moss garden in Vermont, and it worked so well at stopping the Shattucks (Vt Neighbors) leaking well, that we could have a veggie garden finally. It made me realize that since peat is such an enormous and wonderful product at just stopping water, that it would make a nice gray water absorber. So, we got approval from the town, for an alternative system up top for the future bathroom. An aside here: It pretty much makes my heart sing that Wilton has the ONLY human sewage reclamation plant in the USA.....I can totally get behind that!

Anyhow, the next year we got a 12x32 shed delivered and have been slowly improving that. Last year we got an electric pole installed and Rich wired the cabin, partially, and this year I will be doing the insulating with Roxul, as well as starting the addition on the camp (for a bathroom down here). We also had our first Friend come over (Richs Architect Friend, Denny Frehsee) to give us ideas for exactly where to start planning the House siting process; I haven't seen Rich more excited in some time. :)

As for me, one of the things I have been doing in Vermont Winters, is to trace my Geneology, because It was all a big secret to my FuFo's (F**ked Up Family of Origin), apparently. Honestly, I think my ancestors left the reservation a long time ago. Turns out that My Maternal Great Grandmother, Justine, came down from the Big Rock (Newfoundland), when she was just Sixteen, to work in the Woolen Mills in Providence RI. I can fill that out more, later (or most likely, in my auto-biography), because that's not the most interesting piece to todays post. 

What's much more relevant is my paternal great-grandmothers influence in all this. Her name was Nettie Newcombe, originally. She Married Alonso Richardson (my Paternal Great-Grandfather) when they were both quite young. He was listed as a House Painter who died in his 30's, in Manchester, NH. The cause was listed as Epilepsy, but Rich and I surmised that his seizures were most likely due to too much lead exposure from the paint back then. In any case, when he died so young, Nettie went back to her birthplace in Maine, to get more support from family. She had at least one Son (my grandfather Bert), but it seems he stayed in NH in a cabin, in the woods of Unity....I will likely find out more about his life the next time I visit ancestry.com

The craziest thing is that her birthplace was ONLY TEN MILES from where we bought the property, in Maine. Just goes to show that when you clear your mind enough, and listen to the messages from beyond, (those little, everyday miracles that most folk are going too fast to even consider), the Universe is almost always working on your behalf. 

It's all about learning to consciously Manifest what your deepest desires are. Sounds so easy, doesn't it?

Take it from me, It's the simplest thing in the World, and also the hardest thing, EVER. I believe the Buddhist philosophy on how simple life really is, But when you begin the distilation of reducing complications, it never speaks about (on the surface, anyway), is how hard it actually is to get the simplification process started, and then, completed. Yikes.

But, As Rany Arbells song lyrics state: "I was always gonna find my own road to heaven....lots telling me what to believe, but they never tell me what they've got, hidden up their sleeve"....". 

I haven't got a spiritual belief system, or rather, I have one that is a mish-mash of lots of belief systems, that works for me, because I've taken up all of the Best of the different forms, and made it my own.  I love the Traditions inherent in Judaism and Native Spirituality, but I also love most of the tenets of Buddhism, which also closely align with Native American Theology. So, if I had to state one over the other, I'm not sure I could do that.They are All lovely systems in their own unique ways. 

What I mostly believe in is "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" and maybe "don't be a hypocrite, just don't". This latter one, alone, has pretty much been my lifes work, to avoid, entirely. I truly also believe in "Live and let live", as well. Maine seems much more "Woke" to this little ditty, then Vermont will EVER be. You can let your Freak Flag Fly over here and they really don't care. I respect that so very very much. :)

For all these reasons and more, Maine and Canada are my heart and soul, since before I was even born and I somehow knew this, even before we bought the land here. We DO have ancestral memories, even if we can't remember consciously. 

My memories have always had me with my hands in the dirt. Anytime I have strayed far from this, I have felt a crazy sort of sickness and a weird sort of lingering malaise. I have come to the conclusion that this is most likely true of most healers and medicine workers....They HAVE to live quite close to the Earth. I also believe this is true for a humans soul or life-source, as it were. There's a crazy kind of malaise in the World right now, as far as I can tell, that only worsened with the Pandemic. I believe this has to do with people's removal from their connection to Maia. 

So, then, and always, My purpose and passion has been to work with plants and Trees. They have SO VERY MUCH MEDICINE for all of us, and it is past time for much healing to commense, on a grand scale.

So on that note, I will close the same way I opened this post, by saying: "Welcome Home, My Child" , "Welcome Home". (I got this direct from Nettie in one of my marathon meditation sessions.). 

So here is where I am and Here is where I will stay, until it's time for me to walk the Red Road. (Check out Blues Travelers "Mountain Cry", to see where I stole these lyrics....lol)

Thanks Grandmother Nettie, for the clear and helpful direction. 

I am truly blessed. And just EVER so very grateful, that my heart feels like it will burst most of the time. 

May we all have Green Lights to a life well lived. :)

My Hermit Haven

 August 3, 2023

Good day ya'll, and what a pleasant Thursday it's shaping up to be, with the best weather of the year....70'ish, breezy and partly sunny. The weather report said cloudy all day, so I'm happy they were wrong, but man, I've always said that Meterology is the ONLY profession where you can be wrong half the time and still get paid! 

Not much to report today except for a few things....

The Electrician is coming today, to hook up the cabin, and then it's just a matter of waiting for CMP to come place a new pole and brace pole, down by the road. Then it's clean up time, chipping and burning the huge brush piles that the pole stumpers left. 

This is the view from the cabin....

..as you can see, lots of brush...someone is coming to get the big logs later, today, hopefully...

I will say that if you ever find yourself in Wilton, you really oughta head up Temple Road to see this quite delightful roadside attraction...

I am bemused by this because I have put out 4 boxes for my packages, since I've been staying here in Summer, and the Road crews have managed to break every single one of them. This fella has clearly gotten sick of having his mailboxes destroyed...lol If you find yourself here, stop by in the Evening and you'll likely find him on the porch, and he will give you the lowdown...it's quite a story and his to tell, so I will stop there.

As for me, I gotta skedaddle on account of our divas hating visitors and barking their little heads off.  I got lots of put off errands to run, which I hate, but which I just can't put off any longer....

So in closing, I would say: Be kind, always, and keep the faith, hey?

👀❤

My Hermit Haven

 August 2, 2023

Good morning from Hermit Hill this fine Wednesday. We got full sun here today, so charging I will be. Lol. (The gang for the chargers came yesterday, after the other one actually melted in the heat...who even knew that could happen? Shikes!) You can see the first one, below. I've only been charging one generator at a time, since that one went kaput, and it's a slowww game. Luckily, it's been partly sunny here, so I can get at least one of the two Rockpals up to 100% without too much trouble.

On the usual note, plant talk today is about galls masquerading as flowers. Ha, ha, ha, not really, but doesn't this little thing look like a miniature Maine Pineapple? I posted it on a FB Plant Id group before I went to bed last night, asking for some suggestions on what it could be. Well it musta' started a flame war, on account of I got a notice saying I got kicked out of the group. Lawdy, but those folks shore do be a bit crazzzy, don't ya know?

(Sorry about this centered text formatting, google is quite fussy, and won't let me select and left align, in the center of two photos....just one of the many reasons I find Google quite klunky).

In any case, the reason I even bothered, was because Plant Snap gave me a different answer for every picture and INaturalist couldn't even be confident enough to make a suggestion....grr. Well, for once, Google Image was on the mark and pointed me to Rabdophaga rosaria, which is a gall got from roses, that affects Camellia plants. It just so happens that this New Jersey Tea is sitting right behind an invasive rose, right behind the cabin, in a drainage ditch. One good thing about invasives, is that they aren't too fussy. lol

Anyhow, it's the first one I've ever seen and I find it quite fascinating.

Following up on yesterdays post, I did end up moving the two Catalpas further down the driveway, and geared them all out with fencing, flags and food, so they'd be all ready for winter and hopefully safe from varmints. Guess it depends on how much snow we get. I can't speak for mice, but maybe they like a clean smelling home as much as we do? Guess we'll see, hey?

I ended up cutting and cutting, on a Maple tree behind where I wanted to put the second Catalpa. Man, I am suitably impressed by just how much a Maple tree will sucker! As you can see, this stump that was cut for logs, sent out this incredible group of suckers. It was quite tall and shading the area, though, so out it had to go.  It won't be good for syrup in this condition, so I didn't feel too bad about offing it.  

I also did set up the mountain Ash's with as much of the same protections. I am really hoping they come back, as they are incredibly beautiful trees and it will be lovely to pull into the driveway and have that be the first thing to see. 

That's likely enough plant talk for today, so in closing, I will say: Be kind, always, and keep the faith! 

❤

My Hermit Haven

 August 1, 2023

Top of the morning to you, this very fine Tuesday morning. 

Today, I am going to be talking about "God Shots", otherwise known as miracles. I would say "tiny" miracles, but I just don't know if there are tiny ones...

In any case, the other day, at the end of the day, I went to empty out the camp sink, (which has two very small drainage plugs), unattended. Now, I usually put the plugs on the right hand side of the sink, (one of the built in blue drainers), in a plastic tray. Then I remove the dish drainer as well as the two blue pop off drainers that came with the sink, so I can do a more thorough rinse with the hose. Well, it was the end of the day and it was starting to sprinkle, so I was rushing camp chores, and just thought I'd let the sink drain on its own while I covered stuff up. 

Next thing I know, and quite in line with my terrible luck sometimes, there's a giant crash and I came back to the sink to find everything on the ground. A small part of me was thinking "oh, shit, now I gotta call Joolca to see if I can get those two tiny parts replaced. This is really gonna suck ass". I didn't get triggered as I normally would have, because I was just plain too tired, so I picked everything up and continued on with the chores, which included recycling this used water, to water plants with. (Raining or not, we don't waste water here). Well, maybe my luck improved because I saw something pop into the tire planter, and it was the rubber bung, so I reached into the bucket and lo and behold, the black screw piece was in there, as well!

Now, I realize you may have to take this on faith, but there is no probability that includes those two tiny pieces NOT bouncing all the way to Temple. 

There is at least 2-3 feet between the blue right hand tray, and the drainage bucket, also at least one corner to get around. When it happened I figured they rolled under the washing machine sitting on a pallet to the left of the sink, and I figured we'd likely find them when we tore out the setup for the digger. (We will be putting a 10' x 10' more permanent deck here, where the temporary pallets are, probably middle of month).

Well, I can't tell you just how improbable it is that they would be in the bucket, so I never even thought to check.....it just doesn't make a lick of sense they would have turned a corner, shot straight up in the air, and dropped in the drainage bucket. Defies all understanding of both gravitational law and physics. 

Here are the pics of the setup and the plugs....still blows my mind....

So on that note, I will close this post, with my usual advice to try and be kind always, as the laws of Karma WILL definately find you at some point. I have lived long enough to see bad karma catch up to everyone who has ever tried to do me wrong. And it's miracles such as this, that remind me I must surely be on the right path, with my life, finally. 

Much love and keep the faith, hey?🌝

My Hermit Haven

 July 31, 2023

Good morning from Hermit Hill, this fine Monday.

Plant talk today is about another two tiny trees, this time Mountain Ash. There are some lovely ones here and I do have one back in Vermont that has not flowered, on account of, it doesn't have a matey, and it's definately not an understory tree. It's quite large, though and if I can figure out a way, to move it, I will. Unlikely, but might be possible, we'll just have to wait and see....I will def update if/when I do!

At any rate, these two scranny beeings have lived in buckets in back of the shed, since spring, where I thought they might not be molested by deer. I was wrong, as one of these is completely chawed on. Ah, well, I did say on Saturday that I won't give up on a tree so long as it has a robust root ball, and these both did, so despite losing leaves, I believe they will make a comeback. And even if they don't, that's one less hole I gotta dig, next year! lol.

I believe these will, though, and realized yesterday, that the two Catalpa Trees I planted close to the cabin, might get far too big to live there, and since there is room down at the end of the driveway, I will move them down there. It's likely a safer micro-climate for them, anyway, since it's closer to a zone 5 down there and with global warming, might end up being closer to a zone six, which is really what they need. I am forever trying ways to get around zone requirements and experimenting a little, like I did in Vermont with the Paw-Paws, which has done nothing but bear fruit,  (Rich tells me there is a bumper crop again this year...  :)

Well, this is why I plant in root bags, in a hole in the ground, as I haven't been here enough to really "read" the micro environments closely. It also gives baby trees an excellent start, because they are much like human babies, those first few years are just vital. They need all the best food, dirt, training and protecting, as you can give them! Plus, they are less shocked if you decide to move them, which I sometimes decide to do. Being 3' trees, they don't generally get through the bags in the first year, but I do punch a hole in the bags so they can send their tap-roots straight down, when they are ready and able. That's only one of my tricks, and it's a good one, so I've carried on doing it. If it worked for Paw-paws, no reason it wouldn't for the others, hey?

Anyhow, here are the two scraggly Mountain Ash's, and the view from the cabin. As you will see, there is much more room and space and light down there, so those will be the next two holes I will dig. The holes I already dug (where the Catalpas are), will have a Bridal Wreath Spirea and a Spice bush in them. They shouldn't get too awfully big, and should be nice to smell and admire, from the porch.

❤

So, in closing, I would say: Be Kind Always. 

My Hermit Haven

July 29, 2023

Good morning on this beautiful Saturday morning.

Looks like we are coming into the best weather of the year today, so great! Temps are supposed to be between 50-75 all this coming week, so we'll be quite a bit more comfortable sans air conditioning. 

Plant talk today will be the story of two tiny trees.

Approximately 5 years ago, I bought two additional stone pines for the Vermont property. I had this vision that they would grow big and beautiful and strong, and shade the root cellar somewhat. I put them in two half-whiskey barrels, flanking a weeping Mulberry (also in a half-whiskey barrel). The two pines down below that I'd already had for a few years (also in half-whiskey barrels), didn't seem bothered by anything, so I thought maybe these would not be, either. Unfortunately, even though I know the Deer come right down in the yard there, these three trees got chomped, repeatedly. Who can figure out why they would bother these and not the others? Proximity perhaps? Or the age of the trees? We know that they love the tender young bark and branches and leaf tips of the baby trees, but why would they bother these and not the ones closer to the house? I mean, it's only a matter of feet, really. It's so strange to me, but not to them, I guess. It is a bit more isolated from view up there in the back of the property, but we can still see it from the house, so that seems an illogical assumption....well, I just don't know, so I pulled these poor little stragglers out last time I was there, and brought them here, where I can tend them a little easier. I will be building hardware cages for them, before I leave this fall. 

They look very stunted, but I have learned with trees, that if they have a stout and robust root ball, and even the minimal foliage, they can survive almost anything; so I never chuck trees out, no matter how bedraggled they may look up top. I once read in the book: "What do Trees Talk About?" that most of the essence of a tree is actually underground, and all  we usually see is the top 1/3 of the tree. I find that utterly fascinating and an alert to all we tend to miss, as humans. 

I have another fascinating story of a plum tree I planted in Vermont; but that is a story for another day....so back to the matter at hand. 

I bought these Stone pines from One Green World (out in Oregon), when shipping prices were still reasonable (pre-pandemic), and they weren't exactly cheap, so I am invested in rejuvenating them and watching them make a healthy comeback. If they do revive, they will likely bear pinenuts before the other (older) ones, because they will likely have a much stauncher resilience. I also read in that same book, that some trees can and do, produce and send out toxins to prevent further nibbling on their tips. I am not sure if this species does that, but I just know in my bones that if they make it, they will be quite fruitful. 

I also read in Samuel Thayers new tome, that Sweet Fern likes to have red pine as a buddy, and even though we cannot grow red pine here, I am hoping that the lone Comptonia will like the stone pines flanking it. I mean, I fully realize that they are only distantly related, but It's the best I can do, so I pray that it's enough. 

Well, on that note, here are the two very small stone pines; I cannot remember exactly, but I believe they were/are called: Korean Stone Pine, I couldn't say for sure without looking up the records....

The little chunks of things hanging on them are small squares of Irish Spring Soap. I know some folks think that is an old wives tale (mostly just the young prigs), but I have found that not only does it keep the Deer from noshing, but it acts as a soap spray for bugs. If you string one around the top of each branch and also at the top of the tree, whenever it rains, the soap dissolves and runs down the stems and coats the leaves. Some ends up on the ground, which acts to control the ground pests (after all, nobody likes a faceful or mouthful of Irish Spring), I swear. lol So, you are getting a triple whammy of protection for not very much money and only a little time, invested.  Since I've lately had more time then money, it works well, for me. I will circle around and take follow-up photos in a future blog...so stay tuned. 

On that note, I will close with: Be Kind, always.